Alongside Somali government troops, Madobe's Raskamboni
fighters -- some of them look more like teenage boys -- police
an uneasy peace in Dhobley, a windswept, dusty town just a few
kilometres from Kenya's eastern frontier.

East Africa's biggest economy has long cast a wary eye at
Somalia, and is struggling to secure a porous border with its
lawless neighbour that stretches hundreds of kilometres through
deserted wilderness.

Keen to avoid a spillover of violence by al Qaeda-trained
foreign jihadists seeking haven in Somalia as well as al Shabaab
rebels entrenched in the south, Nairobi wants to create a buffer
zone.

Kenya has already trained thousands of newly recruited
Somali soldiers to man the frontier. It also provides logistical
and intelligence support to Somali government troops.

"Dhobley is the first area we secured, pushing out al
Shabaab. We expect in the coming days to push them out of the
region," said the soft-faced Sheikh Dahir, one of Madobe's
lieutenants.

Madobe was a senior member of an Islamist administration
routed from power by Ethiopian forces in late 2006, early 2007.
He later turned his guns on his former allies to side with the
U.N.-backed government.

Dhobley's buildings carry the pock-marked scars of intense
gunbattles in April this year when Raskamboni and government
forces regained control of the town from the al Qaeda-affiliated
al Shabaab group.
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